Can my sweet baby girl really be a sinner?

Is it possible that this sweet little girl who are rarely cried during her first six months of life could be born a sinner? Lets take a look shall we?


Although Micah was being generous and letting Lydia play with his toys, she still thought it necessary to pick on him!


Lydia has decided as of late that she will pick the food she wants to eat and the location in which she will eat it. Apparently she has decided that her seat isn't good enough! So I guess to the high chair we go...

Conclusion: "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6 I am seeing what a glorious and overwhelming task it is to be one called to "train up a child in the way he should go." May God grant me the grace to get out of His way. He will guide and reveal Himself to my children if that is His will. So for now, I plead and pray that they will be ones that belong to Him. For as fallen as they are, I would be the same if it were not for my hope in Christ. I pray that within their lives I may be a vessel of honorable use, one that is useful to the Master.

Living Life As If There Is a Therefore

I often put links on here to different messages or sermons that have had an impact on my life or my view of God and hope that they will do the same for those who see them on here, but I fear that not many of them are listened to. So, I have taken out a section of quotes that I think can be life changing if we allow them to be.

So we say, “Because of God’s mercy revealed in Christ, therefore, I do this and not that. Because of God’s mercy revealed in Christ, therefore I speak this way and not that way. Because of God’s mercy revealed in Christ, therefore I cultivate this kind of emotion and put that kind to death. Because I exist to glorify the mercy of God in Christ, I live this way and not that way. Christian living is built on something!

The somethings he is referring to here is the grace given to us through Christ. God in His infinite grace chose to save us from our utter sinful state, therefore, we should live as if there is someone who is worthy to be glofied in our whole being. The reality of the Christian walk is to be different than that of the world because we are built on something greater than those of the world.

One application: Parents, teach your children that the behavior and attitudes you expect from them are built on something! Don’t say, “Just do it.” As they get older help them see that the standards of thought and attitude and action and entertainment and ministry and mercy are all built on the mercy of God in Christ. Help them see that Christian living is not a list of do’s and don’ts, it is a way of showing the glory of God and Christ. Help them see that Christian living—for children and teenagers and adults—is built on the gospel—on the beauty of Christ crucified and risen and reigning. The question is not mainly, “What’s wrong with this music or this movie or this party or this dress or these drugs or these friends?” The question is, How can I act and speak and feel so that I help my friends see the worth of Jesus above all music and movies and parties and friends? How can I live to show that Jesus didn’t come into the world to help me party better but to help me love better and die better? -Build Your Life on the Mercies of God

I have learned that in my own life, but especially with my children, that I need to be teaching them that they are to do or not do, act or not act, talk or not talk in certain ways because their life is to be built on something greater than just them. Their, or my, momentary happiness is nothing compared to the eternal majesty and glory of God and His mercies toward us through Christ.
So, I have to realized that those who see me will only know the worth of Jesus in my life by my priorities, my decisions, my actions, my attitudes, and my willingness to be different from this world. Because of God's mercy I will rejoice in all seasons of life, for Christ should be the only value I need to bear and I will praise Him each day for the blessings in my life that are so undeserved.

A Good Idea???

I suppose sometimes you just have to let boys be boys!!

The Quest for Divine Guidence

“The prerequisite of divine guidance is not a quest for messages; it is a quest for holiness.” Excellent Message by John Piper

Words of Inspiration

"Christ has already conquered the sin that is conquering you."
-Pastor Ryan Davidson, Grace Baptist Chapel

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:37-39

The Word

I was in the car driving the other day, and a song came on that I had not heard in a long time. A good friend of mine had loaned me her set of Sara Grove CDs and through my listening of all of the songs, although many rang true with me, this particular song was my favorite. She talks about the complacency that we have with our faith and our desire to make it fit our moods or life circumstances. The first stanza goes like this:

I've done every devotional
Been every place emotional
Trying to hear a new word from God
And I think it's very odd
That while I attmept to help myself My Bible sits upon my shelf
With every promise I could ever need

I love those lines. I so often base my faith, my devotion to Christ, my family, and my church on my emotional state. However I feel is how much I will give of my time. This often ranges from everything to nothing at all. How often I miss the greater purpose of what God has called me to. The song continues on, but it the last verse that always gets me so excited about the promises of God and the confirmation that He doing a work in us:

I think it's time I rediscover
All the ground that I have covered,
Like seek ye first what a verse
We are pressed but not crushed
Perplexed but don't despair
We are persecuted but not abandoned
We are no longer slaves
We are daughters and sons
And when we are weak we are very strong
And neither death nor life nor present
Nor future nor depth nor height
Can keep us from the love of Christ
And the Word I need is the Word that was
Who put on flesh to dwell with us
In the beginning

"And the Word I need, is the Word that was, Who put on flesh to dwell with us." Wow, I often find myself searching through scripture looking for something to inspire me or to provoke an emotional response to motivate me, but reality is, the Word I need is the one who became flesh to dwell among men.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

So as my pastor pointed out this past Sunday, embrace the truth that God was willing to put on flesh to dwell with men. Isaiah 7:14 "...and shall call his name Immanuel" (meaning God is with us).

Preparing for Thanksgiving

So for Micah's second birthday we bought him a toy dyson. For those of you that aren't familiar, it is the greatest vacuum cleaner in the world. Ryan and I bit the bullet last summer and purchased one. Since the buy, Micah has been fascinated with it, so we thought it appropriate to get him one of his own. So, once a week when I pull out the vacuum to clean, Micah does the same. Well today, I caught Micah in the act of cleaning and realized that he must watch me often because he is also talking on the phone. Now, it might look just like a plan old ear thermometer to you, but oh no, to Micah it is a cell phone.

So needless to say, I was very thankful for my little helper as we prepared our house together for our guests at tomorrow Thanksgiving dinner.